Experiments in Duffy’s Basement

Serge Talainsky, the guitarist for the Band Half Past Four went and ventured into new territory at Duffy’s Tavern. Serge got on stage and began to fiddle with his guitar. I thought he was just doing a sound check for his set as Undulation. As it turned out, it was a half hour guitar solo that twisted and turned into many mini universes. It was like walking down a long corridor and opening every door to see what was behind it. His atmospheric trip was calm and highly linear. It was the kind of sound that would make you want to lay on your back and stare at the stars in the sky. This was part intuitive, part improvisational and truly a full blown experiment.

Here is a pic of Serge Talainsky with Undulation:

Next up was Serge Talainsky in a two piece band called Astronaut’s Daughter. His partner in crime was a young woman named Alia. She got on stage and began to play a jaw harp. This is that instrument that provides a very twangy sound that you may hear in the swamp lands of the States. Alia also provided soft moans that gave the music its aerial vision. They played two lengthy pieces that gave that far out experience. Thank Goodness Alia did not sign up for the Yoko Ono’s teaching on how to moan and screech and wail. Alia also let the audience know that the money they raised at the show will go towards CAMH, a very good cause indeed.

Here is Serge Talainsky again, this time with the band Astronaut’s Daughter:

Topping the bill was the Databats, a man and woman duo that played electronic music. I rather enjoyed the first song. With a voice distorter and a cold and dark opening piece, it reminded me of a late 90’s David Bowiesque kind of sound. They continued their electronic experiment like a Frankenstein doctor shocking the crap out of some weak anime character. They also worked on bringing the audience to other out worldly experiences. Their obscure lyrics felt like they were using random words from an unknown book. This is also a similar technique David Bowie used in writing some of his material. As it turned out the databats brought out a book and began to sing passages from the book. The themes of their music were ambiguous. They sang about the various use of frogs and even had use confront an apocalyptic attack from creatures that live under the ice.

Here are some pics from the Databats’ performance:

Overall, it was a strange evening
of sounds. If you are ambitious enough to challenge an open ended undertaking
of new sounds, these are the pioneers that are opening those doors to our
suppressed existence.